Always and Forever
by megialice111
Summary: Lily always hated him. That was that. James never liked her. But can things change? Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter...
1. Chapter 1

Lily Evans stood by the quidditch pitch hoping nobody had followed her. This was _her_ place. Not the field, but the secret door that led to her place. All she knew was the door had appeared to her in her first year. Out of pure curiosity she had opened it to find small room filled with old books and scrolls.

Right away she had tried to show it to her best friend Arabella Figg, but when they got there it was gone! As Bella left, Lily glanced over to find the door there all along.

For some reason, Lily couldn't explain why the door didn't want to be found. She knew then, that she had found a new hiding place. A quiet place. _Her _place.

The next morning, she was in transfiguration. Professor McGonagall was was sitting at her big mahogany desk pretending not to notice the nervous and stressful features on her student's faces. They were taking a test for the beginning of the year. Ugh, how she hated those tests. Nonetheless, Lily always was the only one with them all correct.

She finished her test before the other fifth years have even finished half. "Miss Evans, do you feel the need to not finish one of the most important tests of the year because you can't, or simply don't want to?'" "I've already finished, Professor." She handed her the paper.

"Hmm, so you have. With full marks too. I suppose you have no reason to stay for the next hour, so think of it as a reward for you efforts." Lily smiled warmly, " Thanks, Profess-" " You and James can go to the library. You'll need extra studying time."

Before she could argue, she was walking in the corridors with James Potter. He was the most popular wizard in Gryffindor. Everyone looked up to him. That is, everyone except Lily Evans.

They loathed each other and, were both aware of the tension between them in the hallways. Lily decided to make an attempt at talking. "So… What class do you have next?" "Potions," James replied bluntly.

At this Lily frowned. "Well that's neat." He chuckled. "Neat?" "If you think about it, there are lots of useful prospects of potion-making, and the history of potions in the wizarding community are not only interesting, but-" By now James was about to drop over dead from boredom.

"Sorry," Lily murmured, obviously embarrassed. "Don't worry about it. It's what I would expect from you," James said without even looking at her.

Lily stopped. "What's that supposed to mean?" "Don't be offended, it's just typical of you." "Well, I am offended. Huh, leave it up to James to speak the truth!" She said mockingly. " I don't even expect you to know my name. But something _I_ don't know is what makes you think you can treat people like they're nothing!"

All James could say was, " I do not, Evans!" He emphasized the last word just to get his point across. " Don't pretend to know me at all." And with that, Lily stormed through the library doors just wanting James to stop acting full of himself for once.

James Potter was just finishing his test, but he couldn't stand to watch Evans turning in her exam already. They hated each other. Ever since their first year, when they met on the Hogwarts Express.

_That day, I was in our compartment with the other Marauders. We had just met each other, but we had already become friends._

_It happened when we were playing a game of Exploding Snap. In the middle of our game, Lily Evans ran into our compartment upset about something. A couple minutes later at least 15 more people came into our department. _

"_Lily are you okay?" She replied that she was fine. "Don't believe anything they say!" "Yeah, it's not true!" Several more comforting words came from the group._

_Sirius suggested we go somewhere else, so we got up and left. It didn't go so well though. One of our cards exploded, and Lily's robes caught fire. Everyone panicked. No one knew an Aguamenti Charm yet, so they couldn't put it out. _

_I knew though. I conjured buckets full of icy cold water, and poured it on top of her head. Lily was sopping wet. Soon, everyone started laughing at the drenched, smoking first year. "Good one James!" "Yeah Potter, nice going!" _

_Quicker than I could protest, she rounded on me. "James Potter, I will always hate you for this. From now on, I am your enemy. You have humiliated me and for that you can go and __**jump in the lake!**__"_

_Her tone wasn't mad, but actually calm. This is what scared me the most. Storming from the compartment, she left. I didn't even get a chance to say sorry._

Now he found himself walking to the library with Lily. He didn't exactly feel the need to start talking. He only knew it would start an argument. He didn't want that.

James couldn't understand why she didn't like him. Everyone else did. The other girls were practically swooning over him. Lily was so different. She seemed to take no interest in him at all.

He couldn't really blame her though. They didn't really know each other. Sure, James sees her in the hallways and in the common room often enough, but they never really talk to each other. Even though they both know that they are there. Lily is alway reading and it drove him crazy. By next term, she would have already read the whole library.

James had only ever been in the library twice at hogwarts. But then again they didn't know each other. He didn't know her at all.


	2. Chapter 2

What was she thinking! That she could actually talk to him, as if he were a normal person! No, James was just another one of those stuck up, selfish, snobs waltzing around the school.

Did she really mean that? Potter wasn't all bad. She had seen him help a second year pick up her books, after some Slytherins had knocked her over. He was actually quite good with other people.

That was something even she, wasn't best at.

Arabella walked in though the portrait hole and sat next to Lily by the fire. It was sometimes really hard to tell her apart from her mother. Even though they looked alike and shared names, you could pick Bella out anywhere.

"Hi, Bella" Lily said simply. "Is that all I get for giving you this? Do you know how hard it is to find muggle sweets around here?" She tossed a bag of chocolates to Lily, who beamed with delight.

"Where did you find these?" Lily asked. "Remus happened to have a small stash hidden away in his bag." Lily's eyes widened. "You took them?" "No! I traded him." Now Lily was starting to get curious.

"What did you trade them for?" "I can't exactly tell you, now can I? It was part of our agreement." Arabella popped another chocolate into her mouth. "You have to tell me! You brought it up," Lily whined aimlessly.

No matter how hard she tried, Lily could not squeeze the truth from her best friend's chocolate covered mouth. Finally, she decided to give it a rest.

Both girls looked up to see Cher Nider climb into the common room. She looked like she was about to collapse from exhaustion. Cher was covered in mud. Bella got a towel and, they helped her into an armchair. "What happened?" Cher just closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Was it Sirius?" Bella asked. "How did you-" "Cher, we can tell," Said Lily. "You obviously like him!" "Now tell us what happened," Arabella coaxed. "It has nothing to do with me liking anyone!" She sighed. "It happened when I was walking back from herbology…"

"I am sooo bored right now." Sirius paused for a moment. "Don't worry we can fix that." "How? We've run out of ideas." James started to think, but Sirius thought of something first. "See that girl over there?" "Yeah…" "Well, she keeps staring at me in herbology. Let's give her something to actually stare at."

Remus heard their plotting. He looked over the top of his book, to see the two of them whispering. "Bad idea guys," Was all that he said. Like that could stop them.

Before anything could be said, Cher Nider screamed as vines coiled around her feet. This caused her to topple over into the mud. Everyone in the courtyard burst out in laughter. A prefect tried to help her up, but they ended up falling back into slippery mess.

The boys were still talking about it on the way to the common room. "You should've seen her face!" said Sirius as he opened the portrait. " I am seeing her face," James whispered as he saw the girls on the armchair.

All of them glared at the joking pranksters. "Come on Cher." Lily guided her up to the dormitories. James felt something was about to happen. He was right. Arabella wouldn't let this go unpunished. "_Coloveria_."

She pointed her wand at Sirius, and ran upstairs. Bella could hear them from the staircase.

"Look at your hair!" James shouted. "She turned my hair blue? Turn it back!" "I don't know how!" "Figure it out! My hair, my hair, my hair…"

Arabella closed the door to their room. A huge grin could be found spread across her face, as the boys were bickering downstairs.

**I'll try to get more chapters in this week! This is my first fanfic, so I hope you guys like it!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry this took me so long, (I've been really busy) I have been collecting so many new ideas!**

"It's fine._ Really, _it's okay." "No. I highly doubt my hair will ever be the same," protested Sirius. He had been trying to convince James all day, that his hair still had a hint of blue. "She didn't put a lock over the charm so, all's good." "No." He spat out the answer flatly. "Just you wait. I'll get her back for this," Sirius muttered under his breath.

"Why didn't you do something Remus?" James was now very interested to hear his excuse. "First off, I told you it was a bad idea from the beginning. Did you really have to to do that? Why don't you ever find something other than publicly humiliating others to do. Sometimes you to go to far. Don't you ever think that people don't want to be messed with? Frankly, I thought you deserved it."

As no one moved, he concluded by saying, "Also, I found it quite amusing watching you scramble about. " With that he continued his reading, without giving a second thought. "Wow, I never really thought about it like that. Everyone acts so normal around us, and they seem to like me. Maybe there are a few that don't…"

James didn't mean to say it out loud. "Well Evans surely doesn't appreciate the honors of being in the presence of _the_ James Potter." Sirius mocked. "Shut up." James threw a pillow at him. It caused Sirius to lose his balance on the arm of his chair.

"It doesn't matter anyway. Who cares what Evans thinks. She just goes around the school, boasting to everyone about finals and is always bossing people around. Seriously, it a wonder she's not a prefect, or she would be handing every-" "I do not boast!" A furious Lily walked out from the railings. "I don't control others either!"

"Well I wonder what privacy means?" Sirius was still examining his hair. "Is that what you do in your spare time? Talk about how I'm just so horrible?" "When have I ever said anything like that about you!"

Immediately, James could think of many instances where Lily's personality was the main topic about their conversations. "No. Don't even say any more! I really don't care anymore. I've always tried being nice around you, but you can't even do that! Oh no. The great James Potter, who everyone loves, talking to Lily Evans?" She pretended to be surprised.

"My time is already wasted. Just spare me effort of trying to talk to you at all. Things are hard enough as it is without you around." The last line could hardly be heard over the slamming portrait hole. James didn't feel like doing anything that night. &&&

Lily felt absolutely miserable that night. The library closed for maintenance, so instead she wandered down to the quidditch pitch. Bringing out her wand, she tapped the ground. Slowly a wooden door started to form. Once inside her personal catacombs, she deposited herself into the couch.

The room was just a little larger than the Gryffindor common room. Old white floorboards were covered in vintage carpets. Bookshelves lined the walls around her. In one corner sat an ornate, maple desk with fresh parchment and ink. (This was due to Lily's assignment on the Most Common Magical Antidotes for Dangerous Concoctions.)

Beside the sofa, was a loveseat and across from that, was a huge fireplace. Many antiques Lily assumed people left here, were placed on the mantel. The whole room was cast in a golden glow day and night.

The most curious item in the room was a small box. Lily opened the box to find the gold and silver key still shining. She hadn't known what it was for, but something about the key was different. It wanted to leave the room.

Lily couldn't fully believe that though. Objects don't have minds of their own. Wands are the closest thing to that, and witches and wizards use them everyday.

Pondering this thought, Lily decided to walk back to the castle. It was getting late and Lily didn't want to be noticed missing for dinner. She closed the door quietly. About to start off, she slowed up.

'What was that?' Lily had thought she heard the leaves rustle. 'No, I must be imagining things.' She mentally laughed at herself for her own imagination. Lily was half way up to the castle when she stopped.

A defining snap of a twig could be heard from where she was standing just moments before.


	4. Chapter 4

James was in a bad mood all day. They had just got their new schedules. From some mix-up, everyone's classes had to be reorganized. This meant he had more classes with Evans. Adding to it all, tonight was the night they went to the shrieking shack.

James couldn't help feeling bad for Lupin. Constantly feeling like an outcast, never going to be able to do so many things, people always whispering behind your back. If people found out about Remus… James shivered where he was standing.

It was cold out here, and he disliked the cold. He'd much rather feel the warm breeze on the quidditch pitch than this. James looked up at the sky. It was hard to see anything through the trees. He had to look very hard to make out the dim outline of the sun sinking into the ground.

When are they going to get here? They had to be coming. James didn't like being alone. He was always surrounded by his friends or admirers. 'Admirers? Where did that come from? Maybe I'm a little early. Yeah, that's all.' Suddenly James heard a small sound. A gentle humming was coming from nearby.

James quickly hid himself before realizing he was already invisible. Making sure his cloak was positioned correctly, he silently peered in front of a tree. He couldn't believe his eyes. 'Wait, is that Lily?' Although he tried to sneak closer, all he saw was a flash of deep red hair and part of a door disappear instantly.

James had no time to think about this, however three bounding figures emerged from the castle grounds. "Good you're all here. I thought-" "We weren't coming? I don't really have a choice do I?" Remus looked shabby and quite small in the darkness. "Well, let's start up then," said Sirius. "Lead the way James."

After hours of waiting, the marauders came from beneath the tree. No one said anything for a while on the walk back up until James realized his wand had gone missing. When the others heard him groaning they looked back.

" All right James? That last scratch was a nasty one." " No, I'm fine but my wand is missing." "Should I help you look for it?" "It's fine Remus. I probably left it at the shack. You guys can go up without me." "You sure?" Remus inquired. "Yeah, yeah. It's okay. See you later then."

After retrieving his wand, running all the way back took forever. James had stopped to catch his breath. He looked up at the forest. Another flash of red and black caught his eye. This time he saw a girl walking up to the front doors. When she stopped to tie her shoe, James recognised her face.

It _was_ Lily then. What on Earth would she be doing out of bed after hours? Without thinking, James took a step but ended up falling into a nearby bush. Some of its dried leaves fluttered to the ground.

To make things even worse he ended up causing a small branch to fall from a tree. If Lily saw him, what would she do? Too many questions would be asked. Things would get very complicated. On his way up to the castle, James mentally cursed himself for being so careless.

He would figure out what Evans was up to, and he would never risk something like that again.

For the next few days, Lily could not shake the feeling she was being followed. Everywhere she went was very nerve racking. Even the common room was not as comfortable as it once was. Just yesterday she was out sitting by the lake when Potter nearly made her fall in.

I was just doing my herbology assignment, when I felt something brush against my face. "Woah!" I scrambled back into the tree when I saw Potter inches away, looking at my paper. "Oh, sorry! Here…" He helped gather my things and we stood up. "What do you want?" My voice sounded harsh and shaky at the same time, so I didn't sound too confident.

"I didn't mean to scare you like that, I just- um I - well -" "Want to apologize?" My voice was still distant. "Arabella told you right?" "Yeah." I had resorted to looking at my feet now. " It's okay you don't have to. I was pretty harsh that night," I said. "So was there something you wanted?" "Oh yeah! I just wanted to know if you did anything last night?"

Now, my books were slipping. Had I heard him right? "Excuse me?" "Oh it's nothing that important, just thought I was seeing things." Potter mumbled these last few words quietly before saying, "Well, also we're meeting up in the common room tomorrow night to play a game of truth or dare. Bella thought you should come."

Lily didn't think she had heard him right. What was he playing at? " I'll talk to her later then." "James! Why are you over there? Come on!" "Hold on Sirius!" Potter shouted back. "Well bye then." "Bye."

Lily had no intention of going that night. She would just leave for her room before anyone would notice. It wasn't that simple though. Since the day by the lake, Lily was keeping an eye out for Potter and his friends. There was no Potter in the corridor. Aside for a few students rushing off to the Great Hall for lunch, there wasn't anyone around. Oh no. There's Remus. I don't think he's noticed anyone yet.

"Hey Evans! Still poring over those books I see." _Great._ A group of Slytherin girls came towards Lily. She tried to keep walking, but they had cornered her. "_Everte statum_." Olivia pointed her wand at Lily. She flew to the end of the corridor. After hitting her head hard, she slid down the wall.

No one was around to see anything. "Well, well. That wasn't very hard was it?" Lily's head was swimming with all kinds of things and could not answer.

"Are you still crushing on that Potter boy, or are you still all alone?" Megan's voice taunted her. "From the looks of it, things aren't going to well." Lily wanted to blast them off their feet, but Olivia was holding her wand. "I myself would go for someone a little more in league. Face it Evans you'll always be 'one of a kind.' Maybe Peter just might look at you." Olivia sniggered.

Lily couldn't think straight anymore. That hit to the head had lost her all sense of direction. Megan's voice sounded distant, and she couldn't understand her anymore. Olivia picked her up and was now speaking loudly into Lily's face. After that, all she saw was a streak of light, someone shouting, and the two girls walking swiftly away. Lily managed to catch their last words, "We have better things to do than mess around with that _mudblood._" Someone knelt next to her and picked up Lily's wand from the floor.

Was that James? "Evans, Evans! Can you hear me? What happened? Are you okay?" Lily couldn't focus her eyes on anything. Still, she managed a small nod.

"Come on," James said. He helped her up, and walked her to the common room. James was muttering all the way up, but nothing after that became clear.


End file.
